Search engine optimization (or SEO, for short) determines how well you rank in Google, Bing, and Yahoo search results. While every site’s “recipe” for determining quality links varies, the goal remains the same: boost online visibility as much as possible.
Your customers are online. If you've spent time and effort building a quality business, now is the time to show them. Here’s what you need to know to increase your online visibility and make your content marketing that much more effective:
The number of quality inbound links you have can greatly affect your SEO. A link is a special piece of text on a website that directs a user to another resource online. Meanwhile, inbound links are links on other websites that route visitors to your own. Not all links are created equal, however.
Smaller, lesser-known sites produce lower-quality links than large, popular ones. Sites that don't receive much traffic or contain black hat SEO will be less trusted by search engines. Even if they provide a link to your website, it may not help your SEO much.
But if a blogger on a popular website links to your content, you could receive a huge SEO boost for that page. In addition, you'll see more incoming traffic as people click on that link.
There are many ways to obtain inbound links. Most businesses try to earn links organically by writing excellent content: The types of articles people link to when writing their own articles. Post statistics, reports, or industry analyses to encourage readers to use you as a resource.
Another way is to simply ask. If you have a relationship with another business that blogs, you can offer them an inbound link in exchange for your own. This type of trade-off may seem manufactured, but it will increase both companies' online visibility.